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An 18th Century Strait-jacket - Is this a fair description of the Constitution?
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An 18th Century Strait-jacket. Is this a fair description of the Constitution? According to Ashford and Ashbee (1999), the system of: "checks and balances have created gridlock. Decisions cannot be made because there is insufficient agreement between institutions. In contrast with the countries of western Europe, the US has, [critics] argue, been unable to impose effective gun control or establish comprehensive health-care provision because decision making requires such a widely shared consensus." This gridlock is one of the reasons that some have come to call the US Constitution an "18th Century Strait-Jacket". Of course there are various sides to this argument that must be explored before a conclusion is reached. First, we must put this into its historical context. As a colony of the British Empire, the Americans had several grievances particularly with taxation with representation in the British Parliament, the quartering of soldiers in people's homes without permission and imprisonment without trial. As...
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